Report: Google working on a Dropbox killer

Mark Raby, 9th February 2012

Of all the big trends in cyber space, there's one that Google has been notably left out of - cloud storage.

It looks like that might soon change, though. A Wall Street Journal report has shed insight into a project that Google is apparently calling "Drive." Users will be allowed to store files to their Google Drive, and it will have deep integration into all sorts of other products and services.

For example, after taking a video with your phone, you could upload it to your Google Drive instead of posting it to Facebook or downloading it to your PC or trying to e-mail it as a bulky attachment.

The service will reportedly be free but data capacity will be capped. Those who want a large account will be able to sign up for a premium account. It is a direct attack against Dropbox, which has become one of the most popular free cloud storage services on the Web.

Also in this niche space is Amazon with its Cloud Drive offering, though the retailer is trying to monetize it by getting users to either purchase larger cloud drives or buy a digital music album from Amazon MP3, which grants limited free access to the cloud storage feature.

Dropbox is great, but if you want to use it you have to have a Dropbox account. Meanwhile, everyone has a Google account so synchronizing files with friends and colleagues would be an admittedly much easier process with Google Drive.

Obviously Google has not said anything official about this just yet, so stay tuned.